Category Archives: Academic Writing

They’re, There, or Their? These homophones (words that sound the same, are spelled differently, and have different meanings) can cause us problems if we’re in a hurry. I have a simple trick that will help you remember the difference between these three. They’re is a contraction: it stands for “they are.” Their is possessive–it shows ownership…

Here’s a quick, easy trick to remember the difference between these two adverbs. Simply put, farther refers to geographical distance, and it has the word “far” in it. Further is conceptual in nature. So, you can go farther down the road, but you can’t go further down the road. You can go far, but you…

This small, nearly imperceptible punctuation mark is the cause of much frustration and guesswork in the English language. I will share simple, easy-to-remember tips and tricks to help you remember and know where to use an apostrophe correctly every time. Don’t ever guess again! There are two reasons to use an apostrophe: to show contraction–combine two words…

I vs. Me You can contact I if you have any questions. Uh, what? We KNOW that’s not right, right? It just plain sounds goofy, doesn’t it? Well, what if we switch it around, make the subject plural (my partner and I), and put it at the end? Tip #1 You can can contact my…

Academic Help: Punctuating In-Text Citations The period always goes after the last closing parenthesis in an in-text citation. For example… According to cycling coach Jonah Smith, “chocolate milk is the perfect recovery drink after a long ride” (34). The author is “Johan Smith,” and he is mentioned in the signal phrase; what he said is…